


University struggles

by ambreuk



Category: British Royalty RPF
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-21
Updated: 2014-10-21
Packaged: 2018-02-22 02:04:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2490449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ambreuk/pseuds/ambreuk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Williams feels insecure about his first uni-week. Then he meets Kate</p>
            </blockquote>





	University struggles

William sighed. He stood in the middle of his room and was surrounded by all kinds of luggage. At his desk lied his suitcase full of clothes for this term, on his bed balanced a pile of books and around him on the floor lay other sorts of rubbish that could be helpful for a life at the university. Standing in front of his closet, he tried to put it all away. His father left him two hours ago, after the media hype was over. Now he was on his own. William sighed again and got to work.

An hour later and all his belongings put away, William lied on his bed, feeling all kinds of emotions. On days like today, his life was like an emotional rollercoaster. This morning, in the car with his father, he felt nervous because of the hundreds of eyes that were going to stare and scream at him while he was making his way into the university. When waving at the future King was over, he was placed back roughly into reality. With his dad gone, he had to make it on his own. Tomorrow was his first class. He was nervous for that one as well. Not the class in particular, but how fellow students would interact with him. Making new friends wasn’t exactly his strong suit. He didn’t even know who was living in his corridor with him.

Deciding he needed a cup of coffee, William got off his bed and made his way to the shared kitchen. Two girls were sitting at the old wooden table, drinking a steaming cup of tea. Without a word, William walked towards the machine and realised he didn’t have the supplies to make coffee. Feeling like an idiot for about just standing there, he steadied himself and turned around to the girls. ‘’Uhh, hi’’, he said shyly, ‘’does any of you have an coffee bag?’’ ‘’No sorry’’, replied the one with long brown hair, ‘’but obviously we do have tea’’ and she holded her cup in the air. ‘’Would you like some?’’ She looked at him expectantly. Gratefully, William accepted her cup and took a seat at the table. He instantly liked her better than her friend, who had such dark eyes that William couldn’t make out her pupils. The girl started talking to her friend again. Not wanting to be an intruder to their conversation, William silently drank his tea. The girls were talking about their experiences in Freshmen’s Week, a week William was not able to attend. The other girl, the one with the dark eyes, asked her what major she was studying. ‘’History of Art’’, she answered. ‘’You?’’ ‘’European History. That means we’’ll likely have some classes together!’’ ‘’Excuse me’’, William said, ‘’your major is Art History? Mine is too.’’ ‘’Well that’s a coincidence’’, laughed the friendly one. ‘’I haven’t introduced myself yet. I am Kate and this is my friend Olivia. We both live in this hall. I assume you do too?’’ At ease because of her friendly tone and no reference to his family or background whatsoever, William couldn’t help but replying. ‘’Yes, I live here as well. Today is my first day here, so I don’t quite know how everything works. I’m William.’’ With that tension broken, the two girls turned out to be very friendly and offered to give him a tour around the grounds later. Thankfully, William thought this was an excellent plan and accepted the proposal readily.

Later that evening William was once again on his bed but feeling much better than that afternoon. Olivia and Kate turned out to be very pleasant company. They laughed and joked the whole tour around the university and made fun of him in Tesco’s because he didn’t even know the ingredients for a simple pasta. ‘’Well, let me propose this’’, had Kate said giggly, ‘’me and Olivia pick out the ingredients for us and you can eat with us, but you have to help cooking.’’ William pulled a face. ‘’I have to admit I’ve never cooked a meal before in my whole life, unless you think warming up soup counts ascooking.’’ Kate did as if she had to think about that, and slowly shook her head. She punched him playfully on the shoulder. ‘’It’s never too late to learn. Don’t be afraid, I’m an excellent cook.’’ Now it was Olivia’s turn to burst out laughing. ‘’Yeah right, only if you include burning soup in being an perfect chef.’’ Kate turned bright red. William couldn’t help but laugh himself. ‘’And then you have the guts to criticize me about warming up soup.’’ They had eaten in excellent spirits. Kate wasn’t the good chef she said to be and William wasn’t as bad as he thought. He ended up stirring the sauce and it didn’t burn. 

A knock on his door waked him up from his thoughts about today. To his surprise, Kate stood before his door. ‘’Surprise!’’ She showed him a cup of coffee. ‘’I realised we didn’t think about that in the store before, but luckily I found a whole pack stacked in my suitcase. Must’ve been my mum’s doing. You want it or are you going to let me stay here all night?’’ She pushed the door open, marched right past William and seated herself on his bed. William laughed at the sight of her and followed. ‘’Thanks. And not just for the coffee.’’ He looked shyly at a vague point on his wall. ‘’Not a problem.’’ Kate waved away his insecurity. ‘’I completely understand today has been a little overwhelming for you. I learned all the practical things the week before, so I’m a little less daunted in the face because of it. I really am nervous for tomorrow’s first class though. I hope I can understand everything.’’ William smiled as Kate fantasized about their first lectures. Tomorrow there was just one scheduled, so they had the rest of the day off. ‘’Hey, are you listening to me at all? I hope I’m not that dull to the future king of my country.’’ There it was, she said it. William was so relieved that subject hadn’t been brought up all day, but clearly it was inevitable. ‘’Hey, don’t worry, I was just joking.’’ Kate saw the horrified look on his face. ‘’You weren’t listening to what I was saying, so I had to bring you back in the real world.’’ ‘’No, it’s fine’’, William said, ‘’I just hope you aren’t hanging out with me just because of my position.’’ He wondered if his instincts were not as good as he thought and if he shouldn’t have trusted Kate and her friend as much as he did now.

The rest of the evening, Kate proved him wrong. They discussed all kinds of topics and William thought it really easy to talk to her. The next morning after breakfast, William struggled to find his way to the right classroom. ‘’Bugger’’, he thought, ‘’it would look absolutely ridiculous if I’m late for my first class. So far the hope of an unnoticed entrance.’’ Realizing he was walking around in circles, he took an other turn at random. Half running, half walking, he glanced at every sign next to the doors, hoping to find the wrong one. ‘’Hey hey, William, wait up! You’re going the wrong way.’’ Turning around, William could laugh at loud, feeling so relieved. Kate was waving and running towards him. ‘’I saw you taking the wrong turn. Come on, it’s right here.’’ Leading the way, they were just in time. Although slipping in at the back of the classroom as quietly as possible, they managed to turn a lot of heads their way. William turned bright red en mumbled ‘’What must they think of me. If I can’t find the right room, how will they think I will be a good king?’’ ‘’Hey, what’s that about? I can’t bring that topic up and you can?’’ Kate smiled mischievously. Don’t worry’’, she continued, ‘’right now you’re just a freshman, like everyone else here. I’ll guide you to this first couple of weeks, and then you can do everything by yourself, believe me.’’ With those words, Kate pointed at his bag and said ‘’now you have to take notes, I’m not going to write your papers as well, you know.’’ William grinned and did as he was told. He was so glad he found a friend who wasn’t overwhelmed by his public status, but just saw him as one of her mates. He looked at Kate, who was taking notes at an alarming speed. With his nerves finally ebbing away, William did the same, smiling.


End file.
